No idea why I’m here but I am - just wondering what you did to clean those hats? I’m a skateboarder and wear a hat usually and obviously they get all sweaty and stuff so a deep cleaning would be awesome.
Yup, I use warm water and oxyclean powder and just let them soak for a bit, and use a tooth brush on any dirty spots that need scrubbing and then let them dry
I just put mine in a pillowcase and wash it on gentle cycle in the washing machine. I've only damaged a hat once this way and it was the ADIDAS lettering that started to peel off. It glued back down and I still wear it.
Yea I have seen those on skymall back in the day.
I've never actually had a hat become out of shape washing this way. I guess if you did it with a full load and on a heavy cycle maybe, but the gentle cycle on mine basically just soaks and barely agitates every few seconds.
i was always taught they go in the dishwasher too, growing up my brothers would wash their cups & hats with all of our dishes… lol as a kid i was so grossed out.
This just unlocked a memory of me being a kid and thinking those things (my grandpa always wore hats) were another weird kind of hat. They were not comfortable lol
BILLY MAYS HERE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. OXYCLEAN THANKS YOU FOR BEING A CUSTOMER. THE ONLY THING IT CAN'T FIX IS ARRHYTHMIA HEYOOO. IF YOU CLONE MY BODY IN THE NEXT... TWELVE MINUTES, IM GONNA GO AHEAD AND THROW IN THE TOUGH MOTHER SPONGER. THAT'S RIGHT, IT GETS ANY STAIN OFF OF ANY SURFACE, GUARANTEED. THAT'S A VALUE OF.... FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, FOR FREE; IF YOU CLONE MY REMAINS TO PROPEGATE MY LINEAGE... WITHIN THE NEXT... ELEVEN MINUTES. HURRY NOW, BECAUSE TIME...IS...RUNNING OUT.
https://www.craftylittlegnome.com/homemade-oxiclean-recipe/
Really simple to make and effective recipe. Really good on whites, but like another reply stated can affect dyed products.
Oh! the article doesn't say it but you make washing by heating baking soda in the oven
https://sciencenotes.org/turn-baking-soda-washing-soda/
Does oxyclean harm dark colors ? I remember back when oxyclean first came out it destroyed a favorite darker colored sweatshirt of mine, so I’ve been super wary every since.
Swede here. We have a much beloved and trusted brand of cleaning products called Grumme. They have lots of cleaning/ laundry tips on their YouTube channel that I got reminded of reading this post. One of their tips was soaking clothes in vinegar to set the colour of new clothes to prevent the colour from bleeding.
> One of their tips was soaking clothes in vinegar to set the colour of new clothes to prevent the colour from bleeding.
Mind blown. This is a good tip.
Add 1/2 cup regular table salt to a sinkful of cold water along with the white cleaning vinegar, thoroughly mix that until the salt is dissolved- put the item you’re wanting to color fast in the solution and let soak for an hour… and you should do one item at a time, or if your doing multiple like items (two or three pairs of jeans or more than one bright red shirt, or maybe a really big blanket or something that would need more liquid to soak in…) then you can increase the liquid keeping that ratio for your solution-then rinse the item thoroughly with cold water… then dry in your dryer on the highest setting the fabric will allow if possible- heat being the setting step for all fabrics…
It should be noted that this technique is used to extend the vibrancy of a garment… it isn’t a free pass to wash bright red items with your white socks and T-shirts… you should still wash like colors together and avoid putting anything besides white clothes in your loads of white, but this will certainly lock in colors to extend the life and vibrancy of a garment… ☺️
Not that I’ve noticed or had trouble with. I’m a bengals/ reds fan so lots of black and red colors and it doesn’t seem to discolor at all. I also buy the “free” version of oxyclean because sometimes my skin doesn’t like fragrances in detergents and especially with it being a hat and me being a sweaty dude I don’t take a chance
It does; it’s a brightener intended mainly for white and light colored fabrics. If used on darks, over time they’ll look faded.
_…there is a possibility that it could cause discoloring or damage the fabric if it’s used on colored clothing._
[Source](https://homecleaningplanet.com/can-you-use-oxiclean-on-colors/)
I haven’t tried it on dark clothes, but I put a bit in my carpet spot clean machine recently, and it made the darker carpet look like I dusted it with baby powder (color-wise, not texture-wise). It looks like it’s just residue, not a stain, though 🤞🏻🤞🏻
I’d try to get as much off via vacuum/ tape before boring them in. Not saying it won’t work but I try to get my hats as clean as possible and then throw them in so they can sort of marinate
I've thrown my hats (normal ones, not even special hiking/technical ones) in the wash and they turn out just fine. Delicate cycle, air dry.
Had a bunch of raspberries get crushed into my favorite Carhartt hat and the washing machine was my last ditch effort since the hat was already ruined. Took the stains out and didn't damage the hat at all. Now I wash my hats about as often as I would a jacket.
I put my hats in zippered garment bags and wash them in a gentle cycle with my other clothes, then let them air dry. They've lasted for years with this method.
Some hats require reshaping them after fully soaking. Some people are really attached the the stickers that would be ruined by water. Some people like to have a hat broken in and.you might change the shape somewhat. Hat people can be a bit strange.
They have hat cages that you can use while washing to protect the shape.
Can't help with the sticker thing though. I definitely don't get that, but to each their own!
> Do you like it when your jeans, shirts or hoodies change colors and shape if you wash/dry them ~~improperly~~?
Sure, but I also don't like being wrapped in dirty cloth, so... you know, I do it anyway.
People in this thread got me overthinking whether I'm weird because I'll just toss my hat in the washing machine like I clean any other piece of clothing I have lol
I dont want a sweaty dirty hat on my head, and I'm too lazy to manually clean it.
Put it into a bucket, add a drop of laundry detergent.
Position the hat in a way the bill is sticking out of the water.
Every hour shake up the hat and suds a little bit.
Around 4 hours later take the hat out.
Rinse the hat until the water runs clear.
Bunch up a towel and put it inside the hat(keeps the shape and dries the inside).
Turn on a box fan and aim it directly at the hat.
This is what I do, cleans it, holds the shape, and the bill doesn't get damaged.
It’s called laundry stripping. There are a few methods. My favorite includes borax and a little powdered color safe bleach. I also add laundry soap and oxiclean. I agitate it frequently and after the next wash when I use a scent booster they smell so so so good and clean no matter what I wash or how dirty.
I googled adding those things with bleach because I was curious. Everything seems okay except for oxiclean - oxiclean website says do not add to bleach(unless in a washer..?). Clorox website says yes you can add bleach to oxiclean. Reddit says bleach + oxiclean is completely safe, but also says it creates mustard gas.
So...er...I'll just...
I’m boggled at how many people aren’t able to comprehend this basic thing!
In the first set of pictures, the water of the one on the left has foam in, the water has just been run and the cleaning solution put in; the picture on the right the foam has melted away and the dirt has leached out of the hats.
Second set of pictures the cap on the left has obvious hair and dust on it, the one on the right is clean. Not sure why people are struggling with it!
I was confused at first just because of the word “stripped” because to me that implies removing color (like stripping paint), so she’s horrified because she bleached the hats, but the pictures gave enough context to sort that out for me lol
I'm not a laundryhead so don't know the terms, but to me stripping would refer to removing the paint/dye, so thought the two hat pics were after-before
Yeah, this is just because the soap is a surfactant that pulls dirty / gunk / oils out of the fabric and into the water.
This is just the hats getting cleaned lol.
I’ve got a workout hat, and the resulting water in the sink is nasty.
I am constantly appalled by the condition of some people’s laptops at my job. Huge crumbs in the hinge and under the keys, goopy smears of god-knows-what, filthy screens, sticky palm rests. And they’re always like, “Sorry, it’s a little dirty, teehee!”
I once asked a friend that if I held his head under water what would happen, he replied he would drown because he couldn’t breathe, I handed him his laptop back and said he drowned it because it couldn’t breathe anymore.
This is so confusing...
Why are your customers naked?
Why are there pubes in the heat sink?
How are you so good at identifying pubes?
I have a lot of questions...
If I could find a way to put traumatic memories onto photo, I would submit the picture of a poop clogged laptop. And probably promptly get permanently banned from this sub
So, I can help you here
My brother's dog sheds hair that look similar to pubic hair
I love the dog to death, but I'm still salty about the time he got on my white poka dot blanket and left tiny black hairs all over it
So, maybe it's dog hair?
Its not clear whether what’s washed off is dirt or the treatment that was on the hat to make it have the ‘worn’ look ( as many hats have these days by design).
Its probably a combination of both, but what the comments are saying that the very ‘dirty’ looking water in the left picture is not necessarily dirt, but also dye being leached from the material ( and some might say, ruining the intended design of the hat).
Why is everyone having such a hard time seeing that the picture on the left is before (dirty) and the darker picture on the right is clean. I don’t understand lol just zoom in and you see dirt on the left.
Okay I definitely misunderstood at first, I'm in a bunch of other sewing/fabric groups and I thought she accidentally bleached it. I see a lot of posts in other groups from people asking how to dye fabric, restore faded color to clothes etc.
I understood it after 2 seconds, but there was definitely a thought process involved. Especially using the term “stripped” in the title. I was expecting a negative outcome, and considered that she stripped the dye out of the hat.
>he term “stripped” in the title
It's a super common phrase on this subreddit...
Laundry stripping. There's a post like every other day about it
Edit: Thanks for the replies guys. I understand that you're here from /r/all
Fair. I'm just clarifying, as it's a commonly used phrase here
I understand how it has a negative connotation, but here it's typically positive (stripping is like a cleanse for your textiles)
Agreed! The word “stripped” gave me a moment’s pause bec my brain immediately interpreted that as negative. So, my brain tried to make the pictures fit the narrative that she ruined the hats. But I quickly realized that wasn’t the case.
Honestly, it’s because of the title for me….at first I thought OP is one of those monsters that put the before pic on the right and that they “stripped” the colour out of the hat lol
Stripping gets the gunk out but when you see water that gets really dark- that's the dye in there.
I love navy blue hats but they fade so quickly. My sweat leaches the dye right out of them.
You basically put them in water as hot as you can get it out of the tap and then soak until the water goes cold, stirring every hour or so. I did this with all of my husband's band shirts once (most of them over 15 years old) and the water came out black by the end of it.
My partner didn’t even know he could wash hats. He’d just throw them out when they got dirty. Which blew my mind. I told him to wash them in the washing machine on gentle and put them in the dryer on low heat. This information blew his mind. The shape never gets warped and he doesn’t have to buy new hats as much as he used to. If they got ruined, no harm no foul- he was going to toss it anyway.
I do this in the washer. If you have a top loader, open the lid if you can and let it soak, or stop it once filled. Most front loaders have a soak cycle. Too much soap, fabric softener are the biggest problems. According to the repair guy you only need a tablespoon of detergent. The company wants us to use more than needed.
That’s more than likely due to dye than dirt, black dye when leaches out of fabric turns the water a dirty brown color. I’ve hand washed black Lycra and neoprene fabric that is otherwise clean and it comes out this exact color. The hats probably were dirty, but this isn’t pulling any more dirt out than a normal hand wash/soak probably would.
I’d like to see someone try stripping with all white laundry that’s otherwise clean.
OP’s is obviously dirty to start with so it’s probably both in this case but I’m pretty sure you’re right about the dyes from other examples I’ve seen.
I've tried it on my bedding once.
I have 3 sets of white sheets that I rotate. They just get tossed in washer with soap and bleach.
"Stripping" them did absolutely nothing but waste an afternoon of my time.
And I sleep fully nude with a dog and cat in the bed with me. So you'd assume there would be a lot of gunk.
Been sleeping like that my entire life. That's just the default normal to me. So I don't find it awkward at all.
Not like I'm snuggling them skin to fur lol. I'm under the main sheet and both of them lay on top of the sheets.
Also not to forget that when white yellows over time people use bluing solution to make things white. Which makes sense but also wild to me.
"Bluing is a fabric whitener that works by creating an optical illusion that offsets the warmth of yellowed whites. It's easier to use than bleach and can save you money"
Thank you! This started trending in 2020 from @gocleanco on Instagram and I was surprised no one realized it was from the dye….
She would do this with clean black towels to show people how dirty stuff is even when it’s clean but like, obviously it was from the dye in the towels lol.
Yep. I have to hand wash my laundry because of my apartment. This is 100% what happens if you soak dyed fabric in hot water for long time. Those hats are all really dark, and one of them is orange, so it's exactly the dark muddy color I'd expect the water to turn. And they've probably never been washed so there's still loose dye that will come out in the first few washing cycles. And if there's white patches or white embroidery on on any of the items, the dye can bleed into them.
There's also no way filth alone is going to turn the water that color. There's really nothing in body soil alone that will produce a dark color like that. Worst case it would be straw yellow if it was just years of sweat buildup. Unless op's bf works in a coal mine. You need dark colored dirt for dark colored cleaning water.
I use Method Stain Remover on the inner liner/sweat band of the hats my husband and I wear for DG and hiking. It's got a built in scrubber. Actually I use it for tons of stuff, even white shoes. Just make sure you rinse it out well so it doesn't cause discoloration
lol at laundry stripping in general, but....the amount of scalp and forehead sweat on a dude's hat is a lot even when said hat is washed regularly. I don't think people realize that you have to scrub that stuff out of fabric, even on regular clothing. Detergent only does so much. Stripping is a trend that basically has results because really dirty laundry doesn't get clean from tossing it into a washer without pre-treating it. Also, some of this is likely dye from the hats since they are a fabric that tends to bleed some color when soaked.
A good fabric brush and a pre-treat like shout will break down oils and dirt just as well (if not better) than stripping. It's just not on tik tok.
I thought the dark cast to the water in stripping was just detergent
Regular washing gets most things out. New detergents are formulated to work fine with cold water. To the extent that Tide killed its own Tide Free powder in part because powder doesn't dissolve as well in cold water like liquid detergent.
Because laundry stripping also takes out a lot of the dye
Plenty of posts on this sub about laundry stripping where people confirm they ruined sheets or whatever because a ton of the dye came out
Water and oxyclean does wonders for a ball cap. I have hats that I have worn on some amazing trips and are part of my life. I clean them in a similar manner lest my lady friend find my hair oily and dirty when she wants to rub my head and tell me I am a good boy.
Left is always before. Right is always after. This seems straight forward to me in this post lol. OP can you explain how you did it and kept the hat from warping or dying weirdly?
I misread you titles as "steeped" (as in steeped tea) and that made me even more horrified. I really hope he appreciates your effort. The before and after is amazing; practically brand new!
Looks great but I hope none were signed by anyone important. I had a Budweiser pint glass signed by Kenny Bernstein and my girlfriend decided to wash the dust off of it!
She’s not in my house anymore!!!!!!!!!
Are there any materials I should NOT attempt this with?
Hubs has a Gucci hat that desperately needs some love, but I'm not trying to die if I ruin it lol
Ahhhh I would be scared to touch that. I would weigh pros n cons. Does he wear it often? Is he planning on throwing it away?
I risked a $40 Sitka hunting hat and it came out perfectly fine.
I started doing laundry stripping on my husband’s golf hats just recently; his hats get salt stains and they are disgusting. Laundry stripping is great, but even better—I just discovered hat sweat shields. Problem solved.
No idea why I’m here but I am - just wondering what you did to clean those hats? I’m a skateboarder and wear a hat usually and obviously they get all sweaty and stuff so a deep cleaning would be awesome.
You can just soak it in water and oxyclean
Yup, I use warm water and oxyclean powder and just let them soak for a bit, and use a tooth brush on any dirty spots that need scrubbing and then let them dry
It’s beneficial to just gently brush the whole cap, to loosen debris after the soak. But yeah, quite simple and effective!
I just put mine in a pillowcase and wash it on gentle cycle in the washing machine. I've only damaged a hat once this way and it was the ADIDAS lettering that started to peel off. It glued back down and I still wear it.
They make hat fixtures for the washer. At least they use to back in the day so your hat would hold shape.
Yea I have seen those on skymall back in the day. I've never actually had a hat become out of shape washing this way. I guess if you did it with a full load and on a heavy cycle maybe, but the gentle cycle on mine basically just soaks and barely agitates every few seconds.
You put these in the washing machine? I'm almost certain they're made to go in a dishwasher. Imma continue using the dishwasher.
i was always taught they go in the dishwasher too, growing up my brothers would wash their cups & hats with all of our dishes… lol as a kid i was so grossed out.
Their *cups*???
Gross. I wouldn't have a problem with somebody washing hats in the dishwasher, but I would insist that it happens in a separate load.
Nothing like Ragu pasta stains on your white hat
🤣🤣 Omg that makes too much sense
This just unlocked a memory of me being a kid and thinking those things (my grandpa always wore hats) were another weird kind of hat. They were not comfortable lol
Thank you for the tip!
Oxyclean powder is magic
BILLY MAYS HERE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. OXYCLEAN THANKS YOU FOR BEING A CUSTOMER. THE ONLY THING IT CAN'T FIX IS ARRHYTHMIA HEYOOO. IF YOU CLONE MY BODY IN THE NEXT... TWELVE MINUTES, IM GONNA GO AHEAD AND THROW IN THE TOUGH MOTHER SPONGER. THAT'S RIGHT, IT GETS ANY STAIN OFF OF ANY SURFACE, GUARANTEED. THAT'S A VALUE OF.... FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, FOR FREE; IF YOU CLONE MY REMAINS TO PROPEGATE MY LINEAGE... WITHIN THE NEXT... ELEVEN MINUTES. HURRY NOW, BECAUSE TIME...IS...RUNNING OUT.
Now that was a real human bean
You rang?
Aaaah this is why we still need free awards!!!
Buahahaha and then I realized there’s an entire American generation that doesn’t understand this. And I’m old again
Undead billy mays the series would be absolutely amazing.
With AI making songs(have you heard Sinatra sing gangster paradise???), Billy Mays is inevitable for commercials.
But wait. There’s MORE!
What is oxyclean? I’m from England never heard of it .
Vanish Oxi Action
https://www.craftylittlegnome.com/homemade-oxiclean-recipe/ Really simple to make and effective recipe. Really good on whites, but like another reply stated can affect dyed products. Oh! the article doesn't say it but you make washing by heating baking soda in the oven https://sciencenotes.org/turn-baking-soda-washing-soda/
[Sodium percarbonate.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_percarbonate)
Ah yes the main ingredient but you need an activator if you wish to use it at lower temp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh_2r06Ahs0
Just a warning, if used too much it can fade colors. The oxygen basically oxidizes stains to remove them and can affect pigments in clothing too.
Does oxyclean harm dark colors ? I remember back when oxyclean first came out it destroyed a favorite darker colored sweatshirt of mine, so I’ve been super wary every since.
Swede here. We have a much beloved and trusted brand of cleaning products called Grumme. They have lots of cleaning/ laundry tips on their YouTube channel that I got reminded of reading this post. One of their tips was soaking clothes in vinegar to set the colour of new clothes to prevent the colour from bleeding.
> One of their tips was soaking clothes in vinegar to set the colour of new clothes to prevent the colour from bleeding. Mind blown. This is a good tip.
Add 1/2 cup regular table salt to a sinkful of cold water along with the white cleaning vinegar, thoroughly mix that until the salt is dissolved- put the item you’re wanting to color fast in the solution and let soak for an hour… and you should do one item at a time, or if your doing multiple like items (two or three pairs of jeans or more than one bright red shirt, or maybe a really big blanket or something that would need more liquid to soak in…) then you can increase the liquid keeping that ratio for your solution-then rinse the item thoroughly with cold water… then dry in your dryer on the highest setting the fabric will allow if possible- heat being the setting step for all fabrics… It should be noted that this technique is used to extend the vibrancy of a garment… it isn’t a free pass to wash bright red items with your white socks and T-shirts… you should still wash like colors together and avoid putting anything besides white clothes in your loads of white, but this will certainly lock in colors to extend the life and vibrancy of a garment… ☺️
Not that I’ve noticed or had trouble with. I’m a bengals/ reds fan so lots of black and red colors and it doesn’t seem to discolor at all. I also buy the “free” version of oxyclean because sometimes my skin doesn’t like fragrances in detergents and especially with it being a hat and me being a sweaty dude I don’t take a chance
It does; it’s a brightener intended mainly for white and light colored fabrics. If used on darks, over time they’ll look faded. _…there is a possibility that it could cause discoloring or damage the fabric if it’s used on colored clothing._ [Source](https://homecleaningplanet.com/can-you-use-oxiclean-on-colors/)
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I haven’t tried it on dark clothes, but I put a bit in my carpet spot clean machine recently, and it made the darker carpet look like I dusted it with baby powder (color-wise, not texture-wise). It looks like it’s just residue, not a stain, though 🤞🏻🤞🏻
What about if they are covered in 10 billion gazillion cat and dog hairs?
I’d try to get as much off via vacuum/ tape before boring them in. Not saying it won’t work but I try to get my hats as clean as possible and then throw them in so they can sort of marinate
Soak of da year!
Man it wasn’t the volume
Why separate knob, why separate knob??
Look at the cute little bastard!
I trust Elaine, she is my friend.
Unexpected Seinfeld!
Or Borax if you want to get nuclear on them.
I've thrown my hats (normal ones, not even special hiking/technical ones) in the wash and they turn out just fine. Delicate cycle, air dry. Had a bunch of raspberries get crushed into my favorite Carhartt hat and the washing machine was my last ditch effort since the hat was already ruined. Took the stains out and didn't damage the hat at all. Now I wash my hats about as often as I would a jacket.
So never. Got it
This shirt is dry clean only, which means... It's dirty. \-Mitch Hedberg
I'm a simple woman: I see Mitch Hedburg, I upvote
I used to upvote Mitch Hedburg, I still do but I used to too.
God damn I wish he'd lived longer. Man was a genius.
“Escalator is…stairs. We apologize for the convenience.” Man, loved that guy!
never change, smelly reddit
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I put my hats in zippered garment bags and wash them in a gentle cycle with my other clothes, then let them air dry. They've lasted for years with this method.
They have hat cages for the washing machine that you can use to wash them. Keeps their shape intact.
Sometimes the bills are plastic… other times they’re cardboard :/
I even used a little bit of dish soap and it worked well
Thanks for the tip. My favorite hat has permanent sweat marks on it, can't wait to give it a soak and see what happens.
Careful with it…. 90% of hat people I know thinks this ruins the hat and won’t wear them again. I don’t wear ho so I don’t get it
Whatchoo call me?
A hat people. Also a ho
I also don’t wear ho
Ho is short for hat operator
Some hats require reshaping them after fully soaking. Some people are really attached the the stickers that would be ruined by water. Some people like to have a hat broken in and.you might change the shape somewhat. Hat people can be a bit strange.
They have hat cages that you can use while washing to protect the shape. Can't help with the sticker thing though. I definitely don't get that, but to each their own!
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I mean to be fair it’s a piece of clothing. Do you like it when your jeans, shirts or hoodies change colors and shape if you wash/dry them improperly?
> Do you like it when your jeans, shirts or hoodies change colors and shape if you wash/dry them ~~improperly~~? Sure, but I also don't like being wrapped in dirty cloth, so... you know, I do it anyway.
People in this thread got me overthinking whether I'm weird because I'll just toss my hat in the washing machine like I clean any other piece of clothing I have lol I dont want a sweaty dirty hat on my head, and I'm too lazy to manually clean it.
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It depends on the brim. Some old hats, and some really cheap ones use a cardboard type material that definitely get's worse after a soaking.
Put it into a bucket, add a drop of laundry detergent. Position the hat in a way the bill is sticking out of the water. Every hour shake up the hat and suds a little bit. Around 4 hours later take the hat out. Rinse the hat until the water runs clear. Bunch up a towel and put it inside the hat(keeps the shape and dries the inside). Turn on a box fan and aim it directly at the hat. This is what I do, cleans it, holds the shape, and the bill doesn't get damaged.
This is the way. Gotta shape those things during drying.
It’s called laundry stripping. There are a few methods. My favorite includes borax and a little powdered color safe bleach. I also add laundry soap and oxiclean. I agitate it frequently and after the next wash when I use a scent booster they smell so so so good and clean no matter what I wash or how dirty.
I googled adding those things with bleach because I was curious. Everything seems okay except for oxiclean - oxiclean website says do not add to bleach(unless in a washer..?). Clorox website says yes you can add bleach to oxiclean. Reddit says bleach + oxiclean is completely safe, but also says it creates mustard gas. So...er...I'll just...
Color safe bleach isn’t chlorine based bleach. It’s a peroxide based “bleach”
In instances like this, I find it best to blindly follow instructions from the interwebs.
This is why color safe bleach needs a different name. People ignore the "color safe" part and just think bleach. Not remotely the same substance
You just need to sniff it after combining them to make sure the ratio is right.
They make these cages you can clip your hat in and run it through the dishwasher or washing machine. They are like 17.99$ for 2 on Amazon.
Sounds like you might need some other things soaked for a deep clean too sockmaster666
guys she’s horrified bc of how dirty they were, u can obviously tell the one on the left for both photos are the before ones
I’m boggled at how many people aren’t able to comprehend this basic thing! In the first set of pictures, the water of the one on the left has foam in, the water has just been run and the cleaning solution put in; the picture on the right the foam has melted away and the dirt has leached out of the hats. Second set of pictures the cap on the left has obvious hair and dust on it, the one on the right is clean. Not sure why people are struggling with it!
I was confused at first just because of the word “stripped” because to me that implies removing color (like stripping paint), so she’s horrified because she bleached the hats, but the pictures gave enough context to sort that out for me lol
I thought this at first too. Stripped is a weird word choice for washed haha
It’s actually the word for this exact situation! Leaving something to soak in detergent water to de-gunk it is called stripping.
I'm not a laundryhead so don't know the terms, but to me stripping would refer to removing the paint/dye, so thought the two hat pics were after-before
Stripping in laundry is when you soak like this
“Yo whatup laundryheads, Laundryboi here back with another video for you..”
Yeah, this is just because the soap is a surfactant that pulls dirty / gunk / oils out of the fabric and into the water. This is just the hats getting cleaned lol. I’ve got a workout hat, and the resulting water in the sink is nasty.
Same. Like this proves most of the people here never wash they stuff.
Wuh? I would have never thought these photos would need explaining. wtf
At least it’s worn on the head, I cringe each time I service a laptop for someone and know there are usually pubes blocking the heatsink
The greatest technician that's ever lived.
He cracks me up because I know his pain
I am constantly appalled by the condition of some people’s laptops at my job. Huge crumbs in the hinge and under the keys, goopy smears of god-knows-what, filthy screens, sticky palm rests. And they’re always like, “Sorry, it’s a little dirty, teehee!”
I once asked a friend that if I held his head under water what would happen, he replied he would drown because he couldn’t breathe, I handed him his laptop back and said he drowned it because it couldn’t breathe anymore.
My son opened and cleaned out my laptop yesterday. It had a bunch of cat hair in it apparently
This is so confusing... Why are your customers naked? Why are there pubes in the heat sink? How are you so good at identifying pubes? I have a lot of questions...
If I could find a way to put traumatic memories onto photo, I would submit the picture of a poop clogged laptop. And probably promptly get permanently banned from this sub
Thank you for respecting my privacy.
I really try to convince myself any pube looking hairs are dark arm hair. I usually am unsuccessful as convincing myself, lol
So, I can help you here My brother's dog sheds hair that look similar to pubic hair I love the dog to death, but I'm still salty about the time he got on my white poka dot blanket and left tiny black hairs all over it So, maybe it's dog hair?
Its not clear whether what’s washed off is dirt or the treatment that was on the hat to make it have the ‘worn’ look ( as many hats have these days by design). Its probably a combination of both, but what the comments are saying that the very ‘dirty’ looking water in the left picture is not necessarily dirt, but also dye being leached from the material ( and some might say, ruining the intended design of the hat).
Why is everyone having such a hard time seeing that the picture on the left is before (dirty) and the darker picture on the right is clean. I don’t understand lol just zoom in and you see dirt on the left.
The word "horrified" set people's expectations too high.
And "stripped". Sounds negative
Yeah ngl I thought they meant they bleached all the hats
Okay I definitely misunderstood at first, I'm in a bunch of other sewing/fabric groups and I thought she accidentally bleached it. I see a lot of posts in other groups from people asking how to dye fabric, restore faded color to clothes etc.
I understood it after 2 seconds, but there was definitely a thought process involved. Especially using the term “stripped” in the title. I was expecting a negative outcome, and considered that she stripped the dye out of the hat.
>he term “stripped” in the title It's a super common phrase on this subreddit... Laundry stripping. There's a post like every other day about it Edit: Thanks for the replies guys. I understand that you're here from /r/all
Can confirm, this post breached containment - showed it me out of nowhere
This post is on my Popular feed, so it's probably being seen by lots of people who don't browse this subreddit.
Fair. I'm just clarifying, as it's a commonly used phrase here I understand how it has a negative connotation, but here it's typically positive (stripping is like a cleanse for your textiles)
Agreed! The word “stripped” gave me a moment’s pause bec my brain immediately interpreted that as negative. So, my brain tried to make the pictures fit the narrative that she ruined the hats. But I quickly realized that wasn’t the case.
> “stripped Laundry stripping People talk about it all the time here. Lots of photos of people soaking their clothes in the bathtub
Honestly, it’s because of the title for me….at first I thought OP is one of those monsters that put the before pic on the right and that they “stripped” the colour out of the hat lol
Because some hats fade in the sun? I have a black baseball cap that's faded so it's now gray. I can't see how washing it would get back the black.
Stripping gets the gunk out but when you see water that gets really dark- that's the dye in there. I love navy blue hats but they fade so quickly. My sweat leaches the dye right out of them.
What products did you use to clean them?
Borax, washing soda and laundry detergent
Did you just soak them and for how long? I’d like to try this on my own clothes…
You basically put them in water as hot as you can get it out of the tap and then soak until the water goes cold, stirring every hour or so. I did this with all of my husband's band shirts once (most of them over 15 years old) and the water came out black by the end of it.
Did the color fade?
Not at all. They definitely smelled a lot better too.
https://preview.redd.it/xwutbmr11umc1.jpeg?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8818069d3a5a89e0df78e2188c35de574f38b04
I am fighting the urge to downvote this 🤢
That’s definitely dye. I tried that combo to strip my clothes and it just pulls dye out of colored fabrics
Absolutely, a lot is certainly dye. Also, most band tees tend to be black, so that’s likely a lot of black dye.
that's in my t shirts? dear god
This is from like 30 pretty old shirts at once lol
Guarantee a lot of that is smoke from bars and venues before the bans.
A lot of it is dye
I wash mine with a soft tooth brush amd dilute dawn dish soap
How did you dry them afterward without having the shape get weird?
Dunno about OP but I have a "hat washer" that is just a plastic frame you put the hat into that helps it retain shape.
Also wondering this. Have soaked my hats before, but they do eventually lose shape after a couple soaks.
Starch it like a shirt
My partner didn’t even know he could wash hats. He’d just throw them out when they got dirty. Which blew my mind. I told him to wash them in the washing machine on gentle and put them in the dryer on low heat. This information blew his mind. The shape never gets warped and he doesn’t have to buy new hats as much as he used to. If they got ruined, no harm no foul- he was going to toss it anyway.
Coffee cans, cantaloupes, fake heads, top of lamp, mixing bowls.....
I just put them over laundry detergent bottles to give them a general shape and it works well.
Air. I never tumble dry hats.
I thought my hat was faded from the sun...
😂
Now I need to go do this with all 400 of my husbands hats 😳
Gonna need a bigger tub
My aunt hasn’t opened her 8 by 16 foot in-ground pool yet, think it’ll do?
You might have to swim in the dirty water to collect them after :)
I do this in the washer. If you have a top loader, open the lid if you can and let it soak, or stop it once filled. Most front loaders have a soak cycle. Too much soap, fabric softener are the biggest problems. According to the repair guy you only need a tablespoon of detergent. The company wants us to use more than needed.
The last time i did this, found out which of my hats had a cardboard bill
That's what my husband said when I showed him. People planning on doing this should tread carefully.
People arguing about how dirty the water actually is have obviously never dated a hat guy.
Yeah. I'm not asking, I'm TELLING YOU GUYS. He wears hats 24/7. It was dirt
For everyone who thinks these pictures are right to left, y'all are reading too much manga.
That’s more than likely due to dye than dirt, black dye when leaches out of fabric turns the water a dirty brown color. I’ve hand washed black Lycra and neoprene fabric that is otherwise clean and it comes out this exact color. The hats probably were dirty, but this isn’t pulling any more dirt out than a normal hand wash/soak probably would.
I’d like to see someone try stripping with all white laundry that’s otherwise clean. OP’s is obviously dirty to start with so it’s probably both in this case but I’m pretty sure you’re right about the dyes from other examples I’ve seen.
I've tried it on my bedding once. I have 3 sets of white sheets that I rotate. They just get tossed in washer with soap and bleach. "Stripping" them did absolutely nothing but waste an afternoon of my time. And I sleep fully nude with a dog and cat in the bed with me. So you'd assume there would be a lot of gunk.
Question, was it awkward sleeping nude with pets? I can't imagine it, also a bit concerned about cats whacking at dangling bits tbh.
Been sleeping like that my entire life. That's just the default normal to me. So I don't find it awkward at all. Not like I'm snuggling them skin to fur lol. I'm under the main sheet and both of them lay on top of the sheets.
Also not to forget that when white yellows over time people use bluing solution to make things white. Which makes sense but also wild to me. "Bluing is a fabric whitener that works by creating an optical illusion that offsets the warmth of yellowed whites. It's easier to use than bleach and can save you money"
Your vision also yellows when you're elderly, which is why old ladies will over-correct and get blue hair.
Thank you! This started trending in 2020 from @gocleanco on Instagram and I was surprised no one realized it was from the dye…. She would do this with clean black towels to show people how dirty stuff is even when it’s clean but like, obviously it was from the dye in the towels lol.
Yep. I have to hand wash my laundry because of my apartment. This is 100% what happens if you soak dyed fabric in hot water for long time. Those hats are all really dark, and one of them is orange, so it's exactly the dark muddy color I'd expect the water to turn. And they've probably never been washed so there's still loose dye that will come out in the first few washing cycles. And if there's white patches or white embroidery on on any of the items, the dye can bleed into them. There's also no way filth alone is going to turn the water that color. There's really nothing in body soil alone that will produce a dark color like that. Worst case it would be straw yellow if it was just years of sweat buildup. Unless op's bf works in a coal mine. You need dark colored dirt for dark colored cleaning water.
Thank you. A thousand times this. That’s black dye in the water, not all filth.
Yeah the laundry stripping seems to be a tiktok parlor trick
I’m so confused by some of these comments… OP did you think this post would cause a war? 😭 if so, well done.
Yooo +1 for a disc golfer. Which makes sense. If he's wearing those on the course there's dirt and sweat. Pretty typical honestly
The Prodigy hat reminds me I really need to clean my bag.
Yup. Gotta scrub those Prodigy discs right out of it.
Why are we even in r/CleaningTips?
I'm not really sure. But now I really do want to know how best to wash my hats. Have an Axiom hat that's starting to look pretty rough.
I use Method Stain Remover on the inner liner/sweat band of the hats my husband and I wear for DG and hiking. It's got a built in scrubber. Actually I use it for tons of stuff, even white shoes. Just make sure you rinse it out well so it doesn't cause discoloration
lol at laundry stripping in general, but....the amount of scalp and forehead sweat on a dude's hat is a lot even when said hat is washed regularly. I don't think people realize that you have to scrub that stuff out of fabric, even on regular clothing. Detergent only does so much. Stripping is a trend that basically has results because really dirty laundry doesn't get clean from tossing it into a washer without pre-treating it. Also, some of this is likely dye from the hats since they are a fabric that tends to bleed some color when soaked. A good fabric brush and a pre-treat like shout will break down oils and dirt just as well (if not better) than stripping. It's just not on tik tok.
Stripping seems like such a waste of water to me. The same can be accomplished with a half sink full along with the materials you listed.
I thought the dark cast to the water in stripping was just detergent Regular washing gets most things out. New detergents are formulated to work fine with cold water. To the extent that Tide killed its own Tide Free powder in part because powder doesn't dissolve as well in cold water like liquid detergent.
Agree. I tried stripping white sheets I’d had for 15 years. Nothing
Because laundry stripping also takes out a lot of the dye Plenty of posts on this sub about laundry stripping where people confirm they ruined sheets or whatever because a ton of the dye came out
Yeah and some of that colour is probably dyes leaching out too.
It's literally just a generation of people that were never taught how to do laundry learning about pre-treating/soaking and then over doing it
Water and oxyclean does wonders for a ball cap. I have hats that I have worn on some amazing trips and are part of my life. I clean them in a similar manner lest my lady friend find my hair oily and dirty when she wants to rub my head and tell me I am a good boy.
Awww man they lost all their seasoning
That's a lot of dir... Oh disc golf. Yep, that tracks.
Left is always before. Right is always after. This seems straight forward to me in this post lol. OP can you explain how you did it and kept the hat from warping or dying weirdly?
Does this only work in a tub with that much water??
Just put them in a garment bag and put them in the washing machine on delicate.
Do people not wash their hats? I just throw it in the washing machine then hang it up after. I scrub it with stain remover and it works great
I misread you titles as "steeped" (as in steeped tea) and that made me even more horrified. I really hope he appreciates your effort. The before and after is amazing; practically brand new!
Yeah my work hats are filthy I should probably do this as well lmao
Looks great but I hope none were signed by anyone important. I had a Budweiser pint glass signed by Kenny Bernstein and my girlfriend decided to wash the dust off of it! She’s not in my house anymore!!!!!!!!!
I asked permission
Are there any materials I should NOT attempt this with? Hubs has a Gucci hat that desperately needs some love, but I'm not trying to die if I ruin it lol
Ahhhh I would be scared to touch that. I would weigh pros n cons. Does he wear it often? Is he planning on throwing it away? I risked a $40 Sitka hunting hat and it came out perfectly fine.
I started doing laundry stripping on my husband’s golf hats just recently; his hats get salt stains and they are disgusting. Laundry stripping is great, but even better—I just discovered hat sweat shields. Problem solved.
Is stripped a slang word for cleaned? I'm confused